Romantic Tradition Research Articles

One’s Own vs. Other / Another / Alien in the Conceptual and Aesthetic Paradigm of Modernism

This article focuses on the issue of the Other/Alien within the conceptual and aesthetic paradigm of modernism. In the context of modernistic ideas, the author analyses the philosophy of dialogue and phenomenological views on the Other as represented in the intellectual heritage of the twentieth century. Taking into consideration these ideas, the author discusses three mainstream aspects of the Other/Alien in Russian modernist literature: 1) mythological tradition, which provokes the image of the enemy through the image of the Other; 2) Romantic tradition of the double (doppelganger), and 3) philosophical / phenomenological notion of the body, which views personality as “me/Self” and “my body”. Conceptual analysis of these aspects is provided with reference to poetic texts by Alexander Blok, Innokenty Annensky, and Osip Mandelstam. The author stresses the conventionality of such a division, on the one hand, and the influence of the analysed aspects of the Other/Alien onto the conceptual system of Postmodernism. Modernism in European culture, in contrast to other historical periods, is characterised primarily by the fact that many of its ideas and concepts were only proclaimed, but not presented in the form of complete theoretical concepts/systems. In this sense, modernism turned out to be open to the future, which allows us to call it an “uncompleted project” (Jürgen Habermas). Previous eras offered solutions to important existential problems in the form of complete philosophical systems (Immanuel Kant or Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel), ideas or concepts (Kant’s concept of “eternal peace” and a moral imperative, Hegel’s idea of state and law). Modernism, influenced by the philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche, destroyed the systematic nature of thinking, doubted traditional morality, and offered paradoxical solutions to many problems in the form of conceptual questions, which are discussed to this day. One of these uncompleted modernist projects was the concept of the Other/Alien, discussions about which have been going on for over a century.

“КОНРАД ВАЛЛЕНРОД” АДАМА МІЦКЕВИЧА В ІНТЕРПРЕТАЦІЇ ЛЕСІ УКРАЇНКИ

The article presents Lesia Ukrainka’s Prometheusism on the example of her translation of the historical story in the poems Konrad Wallenrod by Adam Mickiewicz. There are parallels between the romantic tradition of the Polish literary school and the Ukrainian so-called neo-romantics in the first half of the twentieth century to which Lesya Ukrainka belonged. The author of the translation deliberately chose a fragment in the description of a girl from Lithuania who is compared to the local river Vilija, and showed the tragedy of women’s destiny full of patriotic motives. At the same time, the heroism of a woman-citizen, a woman- artist arouses admiration and awakens hope for the speedy liberation of the enslaved people. Mickiewicz’s poetic lines translated into Ukrainian opened new perspectives for neo-romantics to combine both national and European traditions, and at the same time pointed to the tragedy of national histories. Lesya Ukrainka went beyond the tragedy of the final scene of Mickiewicz’s drama in her creative conception of the reinterpretation. Proceeding from the vicious circle of writing literary works exclusively “for domestic use” the poet sought to awaken the national consciousness in society to enable the synthesis of coexistence with other cultures. She took on the mission of ancient Prometheus symbolizing not only a rebellion against the power or charity towards the people, but also the revival of hope for salvation from imminent death. Following romantic motives she gives them a rebellious spirit, purposeful protests, which from the individual thoughts of the progressive groups were to move to the community level, which in literature is expressed in the ideas of Prometheusism. It is assumed that tangible natural kinship of Polish and native languages grew in Lesya Ukrainka’s work from the Volyn roots where noble traditions were very strong and had a decisive influence on the language picture of the writer. The poetic material is especially valuable from an artistic point of view since it is based on samples of oral folk art, in particular the song, which can be traced not only in the original but also in translation.

MOTIFS TRANSFORMATION OF M. DESBORDES-VALMORE LYRICS IN THE WORKS OF MARINA TSVETAEVA

The influence of French culture on the poetry of M. Tsvetaeva was noted by her contemporaries (B. Pasternak, S. Bobrov), and also became the subject of scientific research (for example, N. Strelnikova). However, the relationship of her poetry with the French writer work of the romanticism era, M. Desbordes-Valmore (1786-1859), which is almost forgotten in our days, is analyzed for the first time, which seems relevant in light of the growing interest in the role of women in European culture. The article uses a biographical method, with the involvement of the poetics of the rhythm of H. Meshonnik. The article examines the mentions of M. Desbordes-Valmore in M. Tsvetaeva’s poetry and in correspondence with B. Pasternak, provides a brief comparison of biographies in terms of their influence on the formation of a poetic voice. Their tragic fates have a lot in common: both survived revolutions, as a consequence the ruin of the family nest, extreme poverty, the loss of loved ones. The main similarity between M. Tsvetaeva and M. Desbordes-Valmore lies in the auditory imagination, in intonational rhythmic expressiveness and in vivid metaphor. Both M. Desbordes-Valmore and M. Tsvetaeva left evidence of a moment preceding the moment of writing, “music” preceding verbal expression. They often rely on the song as a precedent text (O. Revzina), a precedent rhythm. The autobiographical nature of the lyrics and the musicality bring together so dissimilar authors at first glance. M. Tsvetaeva read M. Desbordes-Valmore in the original, probably having become acquainted with her work at the summer courses in the history of French literature at the Sorbonne. The analysis of the transformations of M. Desbordes-Valmore’s poems motifs in M. Tsvetaeva’s lyrics clearly show not only a deep knowledge and understanding of the French romantic tradition, but also the innovation of her own poetic language.

Come and Read: Interpretive Approaches to the Gospel of John ed. by Alicia D. Myers and Lindsey S. Jodrey

Reviewed by: Come and Read: Interpretive Approaches to the Gospel of John ed. by Alicia D. Myers and Lindsey S. Jodrey Luke Macnamara OSB alicia d. myers and lindsey s. jodrey (eds.), Come and Read: Interpretive Approaches to the Gospel of John (Interpreting Johannine Literature; Lanham, MD: Fortress Academic, 2020). Pp. xiii + 231. €95. This volume of collected essays originated from the Johannine Literature section at the Society of Biblical Literature Annual Meeting in Boston, Massachusetts, in 2017, where participating scholars reflected on various rhetorical elements in John 10 and the plurality of possible interpretations. This gave the impetus to the editors to explore four broadly defined interpretive approaches and illustrate the application of these approaches to three passages from the Gospel of John, namely, the prologue (John 1:1–18), John 10, and John 20. The introduction provides a concise overview of the four types of reading—narrative, sociocultural, intertextual, and rhetorical—and a brief summary of each of the twelve chapters. The volume intends to showcase the different questions, vantage points and diverse responses of the four approaches. The collection is divided into three parts, with each part dedicated to a particular biblical passage, treated in four chapters illustrating the four approaches. Contributions in part 1 are Sherri Brown, “Beginnings: Introducing the Narrative of the Word through the Prologue of John’s Gospel”; Lindsey S. Jodrey, “John 1 Beyond the Binary”; Craig S. Keener, “Revealing the Fuller Word”; and Jo-Ann A. Brant, “Ambiguity as a Rhetorical [End Page 536] Strategy in the Prologue to John’s Gospel.” The essays represent, respectively, the narrative, sociocultural, intertextual, and rhetorical readings. Employing a narrative approach, Brown first discusses the narrative function of the prologue, which tells what the rest of the narrative shows, and then exposits the narrative of the mission of the incarnate Word and its potential implications for the audience. Part 2 contains examples of the four approaches to John 10: Dorothy A. Lee, “The Parable of the Sheepfold: A Narrative Reading of John 10”; Warren Carter, “Jesus the Good Shepherd: John 10 as Political Rhetoric”; Catrin H. Williams, “Persuasion through Allusion: Evocation of ‘Shepherd(s)’ and Their Rhetorical Impact in John 10”; and Alicia D. Myers, “Discerning Characters: Parrēsia, Paroimia, and Jesus’s Rhetoric in John 10:1–21.” Carter’s contribution, classified as a sociocultural reading, examines how the Good Shepherd passage interacts with Greek and Roman traditions of rulers as good shepherds. John’s rhetoric contests and challenges these traditions but also imitates and reinscribes many of the features of the ideal ruler, including the exercise of domination and subjugation. The portrayal of Jesus thereby emulates that of the ideal ruler, with Jesus not simply the “good” shepherd but the “best.” Part 3, focusing on John 20, follows the same pattern and includes further examples of the four approaches: Craig R. Koester, “Narrative-Critical Interpretation of John 20”; Angela N. Parker, “Reading Mary Magdalene with Stacey Abrams: Developing an Inclusive National Consciousness”; Helen K. Bond, “Recognition and ‘Those Who Have Not Seen’: John’s Reception of Synoptic Resurrection Narratives”; and Kasper Bro Larsen, “Rhetorical Vividness in John 20: Making Jesus Present before the Eyes.” Larsen explores the ancient rhetorical feature of ekphrasis, or vividness, not primarily in the ancient rhetorical handbooks but in the more elementary progymnasmata. These, Larsen notes, probably reflect better the level of rhetorical training available to John. The strategies employed by John to demonstrate vividness include the dramatic present tense, imitation of real discourse, repetition, visual vocabulary, circumstantial detail, suspense, and narrative asides. The ekphrastic rhetoric makes readers spectators through the Gospel, but Jesus’s final words (John 20:29) emphasize hearing rather than seeing. The audience, who have been made a party to eyewitness testimony, are now brought back to their actual situation as hearers of the Gospel story. While several of the contributions resume previous scholarship, the set goal of the volume to place four approaches to three chosen texts side by side in order for readers to compare and contrast them is met. Comparisons may also be made among the three examples of each approach, given the diversity within each. For example, the sociocultural approaches include queer...

Acerba funera. “Pagani” e cristiani di fronte alla morte infantile

The Funus acerbum is a rite typical of traditional Roman religion and therefore it should not be related to the Christian attitude in the face of the death of children. However, although Christians and Pagans had different ideas about the afterlife, they shared rules about respect for graves, a similar timing in the cult of the dead, and often also the same burial places. This article examines the Pagan sphere and the Christian sphere and highlights similarities and differences. Concerning more specifically Christians, it shows their wide range of attitudes towards infant death, also in relation to thorny question of the paedobaptism. In this sense, the influence of Augustine is reduced at both the theoretical level and, especially, at the level of burial practices.

Born Roman Between a Beet and a Cabbage

A graffito (CIL 4.4533) from a Pompeian carpentry workshop (VI.14.37) describes a knight as born Roman between a beet and a cabbage. This paper explores the graffito's possible meanings by reviewing the ways these vegetables have been featured in discourse regarding agriculture, dining, parties, and metaphors or characters and posits that they were initially featured in a positive light. In later discussions, however, these humble vegetables not only signified poverty, but also the deterioration of traditional Roman values. The paper then considers the graffito's significance in the context of a carpentry workshop in a town under the Roman Empire.

Languages in the Lutheran Reformation: Textual Networks and the Spread of Ideas ed. by Mikko Kauko et al.

Reviewed by: Languages in the Lutheran Reformation: Textual Networks and the Spread of Ideas ed. by Mikko Kauko et al. Mary Jane Haemig Languages in the Lutheran Reformation: Textual Networks and the Spread of Ideas. Edited by Mikko Kauko, Miika Norro, Kirsi-Maria Nummila, Tanja Toropainen, and Tuomo Fonsén. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 2019. 307 pp. The Lutheran Reformation was a multi-lingual event. This volume, originating in a 2015 seminar, examines not just the impact that the Lutheran Reformation had on individual languages but also the influences that flowed from one vernacular language to another in the course of transporting Reformation ideas. It focuses on the Baltic Sea region with its Germanic, Slavic, Baltic, and Finnic languages. A helpful introduction sets the parameters of the work. Part one focuses on the reception of Luther's ideas and their influence on [End Page 229] the development of written languages. John Flood's essay offers careful analysis of how Luther's German New Testament decisively influenced William Tyndale's translation of the New Testament into English. Flood comments, "it is not so much the echoes of particular words and phrases that are important as Luther's example, which served Tyndale as a model. Luther's German was based on living speech, not on written literary style … Natural idiom, homely proverbial expressions, alliterative phrases, and above all the outstanding rhythmic quality and the fluency of narration make his Bible language what it is. What Luther did for German, Tyndale later did for the English Bible too" (51). Tyndale's translation fed subsequent translations into English, including the King James Version (1611). Kristiina Ross examines how Lutheran ideals influenced literary Estonian, a language that did not exist in written form before the Reformation. Izabela Winiarska-Górska contributes an essay on the influence of the Lutheran Reformation on written Polish. Part two looks at the effects of Bible translations on the evolution of written language. Robert Dittmann concludes that Luther's direct influence on Bible translation and the development of written Czech was limited; instead the Brethren Bible from the end of the sixteenth century was important. Jonatan Pettersson does not see the Swedish New Testament (1526) as a special milestone in the development of written Swedish from Old Swedish to Early Modern Swedish. Despite its linguistic innovations, "it relies on late medieval linguistic usage" (129). The third part ponders the reuse of traditional Roman Catholic texts after the Reformation. Elise Kleivane and Svanhildur Óskarsdóttir look at the reception of apocryphal narratives concerning the Holy Family in Scandinavia from late medieval times to the eighteenth century. Tanja Toropainen views early Finnish translations of the hymn "Te Deum Laudamus," concluding that Swedish, not German, translations influenced the Finnish translations. An interesting essay by Sebastian Seyferth looks at New Testament "Summaries," that is, brief texts designed to introduce and explain a [End Page 230] biblical text, by Johann Bugenhagen, Veit Dietrich, and some Roman Catholic authors. The author concludes that these were not simply informational but rather a tool in the rhetorical battles between the confessions. Part four looks at language contacts and loan words. Mikko Bentlin considers why Mikael Agricola used High German texts as sources but was uninfluenced by Low German texts. Merlijn de Smit, by examining the translation of the names of exotic animals in the Old Testament, shows that Protestant translations of the Bible into Dutch generally used more target language vocabulary while Catholic translations relied on loan words. Dainora Pociūtè looks at how early Lutheran vernacular texts influenced the development of Lithuanian medical terminology. Pēteris Vanags considers the significant German influence on early written Latvian, a language distinctly different from spoken Latvian. This work provides a glimpse into an area sometimes mentioned but seldom explored by Reformation historians. While of interest to historians, it might spur theologians and translators to consider similar issues of translation and transmission of ideas today. Mary Jane Haemig Luther Seminary Saint Paul, Minnesota Copyright © 2021 Johns Hopkins University Press and Lutheran Quarterly, Inc.

Et isto me heredem fecit. La consegna dell’anello nel contesto della successione romana

According to traditional Roman views, the close relationship between testator and heir obliges the latter to fulfil various expectations. The general obligations which arise from principles such as fides and pietas are reinforced by the two parties’ special relationship and resulting duties. In time the heir’s amplified duties partly influenced the law. The heir remains liable to the deceased testator because the position of successor goes rightfully to whoever deserves it and who subsequently must prove himself worthy. The establishment of the aforementioned relationship manifests itself in the handover of the ring on the deathbed. It does not make an heir of the recipient; instead, it uniquely symbolises the ambivalence of inheritance according to the pre-classical mindset. Thus, the ring stands for power and commitment at the same time, for authority and obligation alike.

Simplicity and Humility in Late Antique Christian Thought: Elites and the Challenges of Apostolic Life by Jaclyn L. Maxwell

Reviewed by: Simplicity and Humility in Late Antique Christian Thought: Elites and the Challenges of Apostolic Life by Jaclyn L. Maxwell David Brakke Jaclyn L. Maxwell Simplicity and Humility in Late Antique Christian Thought: Elites and the Challenges of Apostolic Life Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2021 Pp. xii + 193. $99.99. In the contemporary United States wealthy politicians who come from privileged backgrounds and have earned Ivy League degrees often present themselves as champions of "ordinary" Americans and rail against the very elite classes to [End Page 650] which they belong. In this way they hope to deflect attention from their high status and gain authority in a culture that valorizes "self-made men" (sic) who have achieved success solely by their own merits. Those of us who belong to the educated elite often regard such persons as hypocrites, but it is difficult to deny the frequent success of their efforts to legitimate their status in the face of strong values that push against the credentials and social forces that got them where they are. They are not the first elites to navigate such difficult waters, as Jacklyn Max-well demonstrates in this subtle and innovative book. How did wealthy, highly educated Christian leaders like John Chrysostom and the Cappadocian fathers negotiate the apparent contradiction between their upper-class privilege and the lower-class simplicity of the original apostles, who were known to have been tentmakers and fishermen? Very carefully, it seems, sometimes disparaging their theological opponents for the lack of education that presumably characterized the apostles and at other times attributing to themselves and their peers the virtuous humility that those apostles exemplified. As tempting as it may be to accuse these Christians of the hypocrisy that characterizes the politicians who follow consultants and focus groups, Maxwell instead draws on social psychology's concepts of "confirmation bias" and "motivated reasoning" to describe the ways in which elites deal with the cognitive dissonance between competing worldviews (8–9). In other words, the men whom she studies provide evidence not for the duplicitous ways that leaders attempt to manipulate differing cultural values to their advantage, but for the diverse ways in which the traditional Roman values of hierarchy and privilege and the socially disruptive Christian values of simplicity and humility interacted as a new imperial Roman Christian culture was developing, that is, "a period when thinkers were incorporating new strands of thought into their understandings of social and economic divisions" (162). After an Introduction, Maxwell unfolds her analysis over five chapters. Chapter One surveys non-Christian Roman attitudes toward the poor, manual labor, social inequality, and the like and then the new perspectives that Christians of the first three centuries brought to these issues. Maxwell is careful to explain that Christian social attitudes neither replaced nor were subsumed by existing views as the number and diversity of Christians grew; rather, "social teachings of the Bible added new dimensions to how Roman Christians understood themselves and their world" (33). Chapter Two turns to Christian social attitude in late antiquity (that is, the fourth and fifth centuries) and finds that Christian teachings about "almsgiving, the moral problem of excess wealth, and the virtue of physical labor" complicated the ways in which especially elite Christians "increasingly aligned with mainstream Roman society" (54). Maxwell draws on a wide range of evidence for these chapters, but in the remaining three chapters she focuses more narrowly on her chosen database of the Cappadocian fathers and Chrysostom, supplemented by other works. Chapter Three examines the diverse ways in which these authors addressed the social status of the apostles ("tentmakers and fishermen"), revealing that "educated, upper-class leaders were gaining (sometimes grudging) respect for their social inferiors as fellow Christians" (83). Chapter Four studies how Christian authors invoked the simplicity of the apostles or the [End Page 651] value of elite education in theological controversies; they wavered between, on the one hand, contrasting the simplicity of orthodox faith with the obfuscation of heretical philosophizing (e.g., Epiphanius) and, on the other, adducing the expertise of traditional education as a qualification for reliably orthodox bishops. Chapter Five studies the virtue of humility, with close attention to how ascetic and monastic...

House H10 from Marina el-Alamein on the northwest coast of Egypt

House H10 was one of the buildings located in a Hellenistic-Roman city at the Marina el-Alamein site in Egypt, whose relics were the first to be discovered. Successive research, conducted since 1997 along with initial conservation work, has provided a comprehensive overview. The house is one of the largest and most extensive of this site. Its spatial design is a showcase for the technology typical of houses from Marina. The house is embedded in both Greco-Hellenic and Roman traditions. It is an oikos house with a courtyard with two columned porticoes situated symmetrically on either side parallel to the main axis. A third, perpendicular portico, complementing the layout of the incomplete peristyle, is imitated by the architectural decoration of the courtyard elevation, organised by semi-columns. The layout includes two main rooms located opposite each other on two sides of the peristyle. The house was rebuilt several times, which made for a complicated layout. The studies conducted have cast light on domestic religious practice and the distinctive character of the architectural and artistic interior design, including exceptional examples of figural painting. The architecture and décor of the house document the changes occurring at the intersection of Hellenistic and Roman traditions.

Venice According to Odyniec (and Mickiewicz?) in Romantic Contexts

This text is a reconstruction of the image of Venice offered in Listy z podróży by Antoni Edward Odyniec. Against the background of Romantic traditions (Byron, Chateaubriand, Shelley, and Radcliffe), I present how the author shaped the portrait of Venice suspended between the Romantic vision of the city/monster (Leviathan) and the ballad-based vision of the city/Siren. I indicate not only the fact that the image of Venice was rooted in the sentimental/Romantic stereotype, but I also define to what extent it was formed by the imagined world of Polish nobility, i.e. szlachta. Most of all, however, I am interested in the traces present in Listy z podróży which enable one to uncover Mickiewicz’s influence on how Odyniec shaped the image of Venice.

Antički i mitološki motivi u zbirci Carmina Burana

ANTIQUE AND MYTHOLOGICAL MOTIFS IN CARMINA BURANA This paper discusses the function, purpose, place and formal characteristics of the Greek and Roman mythological motifs in the poems that are part of Carmina Burana, a medieval collection of poetry dating from the first half of the 13th century. Different relations established between the aforementioned motifs and lyrical subjects are also examined, as well as how these motifs fit into the context of the individual poem and the entirety of Carmina Burana. The paper focuses exclusively on the motifs which belong to the ancient Greek and Roman traditions, and not on those of the Judeo-Christian provenance, although the latter are numerous in their own right. Also, as Publius Ovidius Naso is often regarded as the main influence on the goliards, traces of his works and militaristic concepts of love visible in the poems of Carmina Burana are also highlighted and examined. The focus of this paper is on those poems which belong to the basic thematic elements usually attributed to the goliards, including tavern, wine, gambling, physical love and satirical and anticlerical overtones.

Antički korijeni Getaldićeva rada na razvoju matematičke analize i sinteze

The diverse opus of Marin Getaldić can methodologically and conceptually be divided into two parts. Getaldić’s early works can be considered as a reinterpretation of selected works from the ancient Greek and Roman tradition with the aim of transmitting ancient knowledge and theories, but also as an effort to further explore and improve these teachings within the framework of ancient Greek mathematical methods. In his more mature works, Getaldić was focused on the problem of the method. For twenty years, in his native Dubrovnik, he was developing the ideas he had encountered on a study trip across Europe, independently and almost completely isolated from the intense developments in the European scientific community in the first decades of the 17th century. He summarized the findings of his research in a seminal, five-volume work De resolutione et compositione mathematica (Rome 1630). Although Getaldić operated in an environment that was permeated by the Renaissance and humanist influences, in his local environment knowledge was transferred more slowly than in Western European countries where modern science emerged during the 16th and 17th centuries. In Dubrovnik isolation, he created new theoretical and practical knowledge, as well as original works that echoed in the European scientific community not only during his lifetime, but also later, during the 17th and 18th centuries. His example shows that the transfer of knowledge did not take place only from European epistemological centers to the periphery, for it shows that the scientific transfers within Europe went in both directions. He worked at a time when the accumulated knowledge about ancient works and the spread of humanistic education outgrew the ancient tradition, and gradually, after the methodological transformation, modern science was founded and shaped. It took almost twenty centuries for the ancient mathematical methodology, complemented by knowledge assimilated from the Arab and Indian mathematical traditions, to be conceptually modified and new methods aiming at achieving new theoretical knowledge and practical solutions to be developed. In building his rich opus, Getaldić relied heavily on the original ancient mathematical methods, which he consistently applied to a variety of problems. His work was largely based on the works of Greek mathematicians, among whom Pappus and Diophantus stand out, and was influenced by Eudoxus’ theory of scale and Archimedes’ application of logical methodology, i.e. arithmetic interpretation of geometry. Getaldić combined different tendencies of ancient Greek mathematics in a unique and fruitful way. After mastering Viète’s symbolic algebra that operated with general quantities, Getaldić systematically explored the possibilities of symbolic algebra in relation to ancient mathematical methods, which played a crucial role in the further development of modern mathematics and gradually lead to another major conceptual change in mathematical history. The change did not only affect mathematics, but also enabled the emergence of new, simpler and more exact interpretations in other sciences as well.

Violin Sonata in F-major by Edvard Grieg in the context of national elements and european music achievements

In concert and especially in teaching practice, Edvard Grieg’s Violin Sonata in F Major op. 8, which was written in 1865, is labelled as his youthful composition. Considering the time when it was created, it is an undisputed fact, but such a term has negative connotations and may also make one’s attitude towards artistic explorations within the piece shallower. It is worth to mention here that it was this very Sonata in F Major that attracted the attention of the great Ferenc Liszt. In his article, the author attempts to point to different sources which inspired Grieg during the initial period of his creative life. These influences can be divided into national ones (Norwegian) and European ones (based on the firm roots of the European musical heritage). There is no doubt that the composer is another link in the great Romantic tradition, both in terms of composition technique and form, as well as regular studies at the Conservatory in Leipzig. However, the matters related to the national element are much more difficult to look at using a comprehensive approach. While experiencing and analysing Norwegian folk music, one needs to consider to what extent Grieg’s music draws from it. In this aspect, the author discusses the issue of how well Grieg knew the music from his home country as well as objective obstacles in reflecting its idiom in artistic music. Norwegian folk instruments as such, in this case – the violin: hardingfele, seem an interesting element. These diverse influences were present throughout the whole period of Grieg’s creative work and can be seen already in his youthful Sonata in F Major – even though sometimes they are barely noticeable because of not having a mature form. Nevertheless, the awareness of rich- ness and many layers included in this composition should stimulate performers to study it in a diligent and in-depth way.

Lithuanian Cultural Landscape in Folklore from the Perspective of Values

In the article, the contemporary human being’s search for values is primarily linked to the folkloristic reflection of Lithuanian cultural landscape. Following the framework of hermeneutics and based on the folkloristic symbolism of landscape in Lithuanian folklore (mainly in the oldest layer of folk songs), the manifestations of a long-lasting solidarity between community and nature are discussed. The focus has been placed on the small community – the family and its immediate relationship with the surrounding nature. In the introductory part of the article, the notion of ritualism is discussed which is based on the universally acknowledged concept of the rites of passage (les rites de passage). Within the context of this concept, the depiction of the public events of family life (the rituals of marriage and death) constituted a solid premise for the investigation of the so-called common places (loci communes) in Lithuanian folk poetry, which in this regard are usually represented by landscape-related narrative segments and symbolism. Folkloristic interpretations of the prominent elements of Lithuanian landscape (trees, water, stones) have been selected for the investigation. The introduction also reveals the importance of a family over an individual in the exploration of a human being’s relationship with the surrounding nature. The first part of the article ‘The Reflections of Anthropomorphic Reception of Trees’ asserts that in the folk songs marked by archaic stylistics, the poetic narrative of trees contains abundant mythopoetic allusions to the constant identification of a human being (usually, a family member) with a tree, as well as other metamorphoses and motifs which attest their mutual dependence. This poetic tradition influences the poetry created by individual authors to this day. The article briefly introduces the meaning of a tree in the world of ancient Lithuanian beliefs and customs and notices the major changes in the purpose of the image of a tree in the late tradition of romances. The second part of the article analyses the long-term trajectories of mythopoetic depiction of water and stones in folklore. It is well known that any traditional culture has accumulated a wide range of meanings which pertain to different forms of water and connote rebirth, renewal, as well as fertility and life. Therefore when the article emphasizes the tropes of being near water, drowning in watery depths, which through the lens of myth and ritual embody the act of love (marriage) in Lithuanian singing folklore, it should be noted that this variation of meaning found in Lithuanian folklore constitutes an organic part of the whole of international aquatic symbolism. The mythicised story of a live stone as reflected in folklore could be partially associated with the folkloristic reception of trees and water. Animation of a stone is revealed through the attribution of the qualities of a live being to a stone (in the legends, they move, communicate with each other, live in families). Contrarily, the lifelessness (immobile state) of a stone is mythicised in cases where people who deviate from moral laws are turned into stones. The mythologem of a stone as the landmark signifying the boundary between this and the other world, as well as the association of stones with sacrality and sacred places visited by deities, is widespread. It is ascertained that the narrative of the sacrality of stones did not cease in the period of Christianity.Therefore, the landscape approach applied in this study provided a possibility to observe how, in folklore, the meanings of different components of landscape organically combine into a cohesive union which operates on the principles of synergy. A conclusion may be drawn that folklore unequivocally asserts the idea of a continuous coexistence of a human being and nature and exalts the perception of nature as an essential spiritual value.

Energiewende, 20 years later - [CrossTalk

IN 2000, GERMANY launched a deliberately targeted program to decarbonize its primary energy supply, a plan more ambitious than anything seen anywhere else. The policy, called the Energiewende, is rooted in Germany's naturalistic and romantic tradition, reflected in the rise of the Green Party and, more recently, in public opposition to nuclear electricity generation. These attitudes are not shared by the country's two large neighbors: France built the world's leading nuclear industrial complex with hardly any opposition, and Poland is content burning its coal.

Philosophia Togata: Greek Transfer in Roman Culture

The article researches the phenomenon of so-called philosophia togata examining such issues as the emergence of Roman philosophy during one of the most exciting periods in Roman history. It considers the themes being a subject for study for a long time: the processes of social-psychological and cultural changes in Rome in Hellenistic age, the significance and extent of Greek influence, the new Roman life-styles and the reception of the philosophical doctrines of Greek thinkers such as Stoics, Epicureans and other philosophical schools. To my opinion, it is a subject on which there are still important and interesting questions to be asked and many worthwhile things to be said. An attempt is made to combine history of philosophy with history of culture and to place Roman philosophy and philosophers in a cultural context of Hellenization of Latin west and Roman response to this challenge. Focusing on topics such as Roman attitudes towards Greek culture, images of Greeks in Italy, crises of traditional values of mores maiorum, Roman intelligentsia, the article considers practices of philosophy in Rome as phenomenon of restricted identification or participation as a result of negative assessment of philosophy as otium in Roman society. An emphasis is made on the paradoxical status of philosophy in the Roman way of life and in the contradictions of playing the role of a Roman philosopher.The traditional roman mentality was scandalized by advent of Greek philosophers to Italy and strongly opposed to the first attempts of transplantation of philosophy into social organism of civitas. Roman authorities viewed Greek visitors and their intellectual shows, foreign ideas in general as a serious danger for mores maiorum and a kind of so-called nova flagitia. The expulsion of philosophers followed several times during the 2nd century B.C. It took hundreds of years to overcome the general prejudice and to legalize philosophy in Rome not only as tolerated otium cum dignitate but needful and commonly respected medicina animae. As we can see, wars against philosophy took place from time to time not only in republican period, but also during Early Empire, under the principate regime.So, the process of appropriation of philosophy by Roman cultural elite was slow, often frustrated and essentially limited being localized in private life and non-formal contacts in social microgroups (amical circles). Its territory was Roman otium (leisure as a part of traditional Roman way of life) and it met negative public and official assessment that cannot be ignored by aristocratic elite in this so-called shame culture. The representatives and enthusiasts of philosophy (for example Cicero) had to justify their philosophical conversion. Therefore the Roman soul was divided in its own reactions towards alien philosophy and felt uneasiness in practicing it. The conduct of its Roman adepts is often very different and depends on various social contexts and situations.We consider the antagonism between Roman philhellenism and traditionalism in general not as a struggle of two cultural (or even political) parties but as an inner conflict of two elements of divided Roman psyche which determines the phenomenon of restricted participation in philosophical pursuit during the period of Roman cultural history viewed here. Manuscript received 10.09.2020

Features of the individual interpretation of the cello sonata genre in the creation by Gyorgy Ligeti

The purpose of this scientific article is characterization of the individual approach concerning the outstanding Austrian composer of Hungarian origin Gyorgy Ligeti to the genre of sonata for cello solo, which was successfully made by this composer. To achieve this goal, the role of this genre in the composer’s work is determined, the stylistic features of the only cello sonata in the composer’s work are discovered, and the composition of the work is analyzed. The methodology research as is in applying a holistic musicology analysis that allows deeply penetrate into the essence of the intonational drama of the work, to reveal the individual features of the author’s interpretation by the composer of the sonata genre for solo cello. The scientific novelty. The sonata of Gyorgy Ligeti, namely, the consideration of the features of the individual interpretation of the instrumental sonata genre, has not yet become the object of domestic musicological research, so addressing this topic is relevant and has a novelty factor. Conclusion. Throughout the long career of Gyorgi Ligeti, his composer style experienced a significant evolution from experiments in the field of electronic music and micropolyphony to a gradual return to classical romantic traditions. It was facilitated by the composer’s focus on the constant search for a new musical language and ways to express it. In the Sonata for cello solo, D. Ligeti pays great attention to the timbre features and technical characteristics of the instrument, seeks to diversify its sound by introducing modern techniques and means of sound extraction. A detailed examination of the artistic and technical techniques used by the composer along with analysis of performing difficulties will facilitate the work of artists on this work and its popularization in contemporary concert and performing practice.

NOMINA ANIMALIUM IN LATERCULUS BY POLEMIUS SILVIUS. THE BEGINNINGS OF THE LITURGICAL CALENDAR (5TH CENTURY)


 
 
 Creating Laterculus, Polemus Silvius, a 5th-century author, was the first to attempt to integrate the traditional Roman Julian calendar containing the pagan celebrations and various anniversaries with new Christian feasts. Laterculus, as it should be remembered, is a work that bears the features of a liturgical calendar. In addition to dates and anniversaries related to religion and the state, the calendar contains several other lists and inventories, including a list of Roman provinces, names of animals, a list of buildings and topographical features of Rome, a breviary of Roman history, a register of animal sounds and a list of weights and sizes. Therefore, Laterculus, just like a traditional Roman calendar, was also used for didactic purposes.
 This paper aims to refer in detail to the zoological vocabulary, specifically the register of animal names and sounds included in this source. Laterculus contains in total over 450 words divided into six groups, including 108 words in the four-legged animal section, 131 in the bird section, 11 crustaceans, 26 words for snakes, 62 words for insects and 148 for fish. The sounds of animals, which are also included in one of the lists added to this calendar and titled Voces variae animancium, are also worth mentioning. A brief discussion on the history of the Roman calendar and the liturgical calendar certainly helps to present the issue referred to in the title to its fullest extent.
 
 

Teaching Modern British and American Satire and Humorists vs. Religion: Critical Voices from Mark Twain to Neil DeGrasse Tyson and Echoes of Emerson: Rethinking Realism in Twain, James, Wharton, and Cather

Teaching Modern British and American Satire. Edited by Evan R. Davis and Nicholas D. Nace. New York: Modern Language Association, 2019. 374 pp. $34.00, paper.The essays assembled by Davis and Nace cover a range from the late eighteenth century of Pope and Swift to today's era of Stephen Colbert and South Park. While the overall collection may interest humor scholars, Joe B. Fulton's “Teaching Burlesque with Twain” essay offers content designed for those of us presenting Twain in the classroom. Fulton begins by focusing on “A Double-Barreled Detective Story” and early sketches like “Petrified Man,” before delving into Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn. Covering both the texts and the popular works burlesqued by Twain, Fulton's essay notes several pairings and/or potentially fruitful topics for class discussion. Humorists vs. Religion: Critical Voices from Mark Twain to Neil DeGrasse Tyson. By Iain Ellis. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2018. 261 pp. $39.95, paper.Admirably, Ellis addresses the complex, contradictory nature of Twain's religiosity rather than taking the author's cynicism as a given. Instead, he sees “a series of mixed messages” where “efforts to find God are tempered with a voice of reason that is determined to reject Him” (20). While this first chapter may not offer Twain scholars new findings, the book's strength is in the way it charts an intellectual progression from Twain, past Kurt Vonnegut and Lenny Bruce, to Ricky Gervais, the French newspaper Charlie Hebdo, and the Russian band Pussy Riot. Humor scholars and religious studies instructors may find this useful, along with anyone interested in Twain's continuing role as a touchstone figure in sacred versus secular debates. Echoes of Emerson: Rethinking Realism in Twain, James, Wharton, and Cather. Diana Hope Polley. Tuscaloosa: U of Alabama P, 2017. 176 pp. $54.95, cloth.Polley's book considers moments when postbellum realist novels “embrace the ideas, and often idealisms, of [a] residual romantic tradition” embodied in the United States by Ralph Waldo Emerson (5). Her first chapter covers moments in Adventures of Huckleberry Finn that privilege romanticism and independence. From this view, “Huck becomes a fictional embodiment of Emersonian possibility,” who struggles for self-reliance in a world that is very much stuck in its traditions (27). This approach yields uncommon and nuanced considerations of not only Huck Finn, but also Twain's infamous address at John Greenleaf Whittier's seventieth birthday, where Emerson was present to hear jokes at his expense. The result is a rewarding piece of scholarship.